Massive Epic but lacking in style

Norwegian Epic Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 41

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Epic

7 Night Western Mediterranean (Barcelona Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 03, 2011

Ship: Norwegian Epic

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 13 years ago

Review summary

Epic is built like a tall massive building with a squared off tower lacking in style. The common areas and non-specialty restaurants are also lacking in style. Seems like NCL devoted much of the Epic spaces to cabin and retail store allocations instead of larger size common areas such as theatre, lounges, atrium,etc. in order to maxinmize profit. We had 2 balcony cabins and find the bathroom configuration a little strange. There's a curtain dividing the bathroom from the rest of the cabin. Behind the curtain, there are two separate frosted glass enclosures. One as a shower enclosure and the other for the toilet. The sink is adjacent to the shower enclosure and on the cabin side of the curtain. One can hear every noise coming from behind the curtain when the toilet or shower is in use. The only plus side is that each of the bathroom component can be used independently. The balcony cabin has plenty of storage space but not much room to get around. Non-specialty restaurant menus are not impressive offering mostly modest choices such as chicken, pasta and low quality steaks. Don't expect lobster or more expensive item choices offered by Royal Caribbean or Princess. Not impressed by their dessert menu...bad tasting as well. Service from staff members are hit or miss...some good ones and some bad ones. Le Cirque was outstanding but one has to pay. Blue Man group was not as good as the original. Make your entertainment reservations early as they get filled very quickly. Reservation is required for each entertainment. Overall, our Epic experience was just average and somewhat disappointing as we were expecting more from a brand new vessel.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Ports of call

Naples, Italy

3 out of 5
Pompeii and Sorrento. Pompeii was a great visit but tour guide could have been better.

Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy

1 out of 5

Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands

5 out of 5
Beautiful island....a must see. Better than Sorrento. Our tour bus broke down and we had to wait for another bus to board. Tour guide could be better as she seemed annoyed with side questions about the beautiful island.

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

5 out of 5
Rome tour include Colleseum inside visit. Great tour guide.

Pros: New and immaculate

Cons: Non-specialty restaurants have modest menu. Dining not great.

Recommends Norwegian Epic? No.

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